<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Finally Free by TheIronMechanic</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23450908">Finally Free</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheIronMechanic/pseuds/TheIronMechanic'>TheIronMechanic</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Tony Stark is a great father-figure series [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bisexual Character, Bisexual Peter Parker, Bisexual Tony Stark, Coming Out, Gen, Peter coming out to Tony, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 14:20:52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,287</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23450908</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheIronMechanic/pseuds/TheIronMechanic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Why did he have to text him? What would he know about it? What would Tony Stark know about being bisexual? By the looks of it, he might know more than Peter thinks.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Peter Parker &amp; Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Tony Stark is a great father-figure series [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1687837</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>285</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Finally Free</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">‘It’s done. There’s no going back’. His phone falls from his hand as he hides his face between his knees. He’s not crying, at least not yet. He’s just trying to even out his breathing, if he stops he fears he might choke and die.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Okay well, he might not die, but better not risk it.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He still doesn’t know where he got the guts to send that text. ‘Can you come over please?’ probably doesn’t seem like much to everyone else. Who doesn’t send that to someone? Doesn’t everyone say that to their friends all the time? </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Well <em>A</em>, the only friends he has are Ned and MJ and they have their own secret code for these things. And <em>B</em>, that text is not normal when you send it to Tony Stark.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">What the hell was he thinking about? How’s he going to be able to help? Don’t get me wrong, the man is great. He’s the most impressive person he’s ever met, he still fangirls every time he enters Mr. Stark’s lab and yeah, a small part of him thinks of him as a kind of a father-figure. Still, what would the man know about this stuff? And most importantly, how will he react once he tells him?</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He’s known Mr. Stark for almost a year now, and they have lab days every Friday after school, but he can’t say he knows the man. They never talk about anything that isn’t science, which he is glad most of the time, but in moments like this? In moments like this, he wishes he knew how he would react, because then his anxiety would go down. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">A knock on his apartment door makes him look up from his knees and his anxiety comes even harder than before. He’s here. Maybe he can pretend he’s not home and maybe he’ll go away. Maybe-</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Peter? Kiddo open up, I know you are in there.” Shit, of course he knows he’s here, why wouldn’t he? God, this was a bad idea. Well, there’s no turning back now.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah, I’m going Mr. Stark!” His voice wavers more than he would like, but he still gets up and opens the door. There in all his glory, dressed in a sweater, jeans, really expensive shoes and his usual glasses stands Mr. Stark, serious as ever.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What’s going on? Is something wrong? You look fine, is it your aunt?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Mr. Stark-” The man doesn’t acknowledge him and continues to ask questions.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Is someone inside? That’s why you won’t let me in?” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Mr. Stark I’m fine!” That makes him stop, <em>thank God.</em> “You, uhm. You can come in”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The man comes in - worry still clearly present in his face - looking around the room for any kind of danger. At that, Peter rolls his eyes. Seeing as there is no danger, Mr. Stark sits on the couch, waiting for Peter to do the same.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“So what’s going on kid? Why did you text me to come here? Not that I don’t like spending time with you, but next time, if there’s no danger, please use another frase because you almost gave me a heart attack, and kiddo? I’ve got a heart condition. So unless you want me to drop dead one of these days, please just say ‘Mr. Stark, do you want to hang out?’ I probably won’t be able to, but it’s a nice sentiment.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Because the kid doesn’t laugh at his antics, not even a giggle, and seeing as he drops his gaze every time Tony tries to make eye contact, he knows something’s up.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“But I guess this is not the case, so I’m assuming something <em>is</em> wrong.” He sights. “Kid” putting a hand on his knee, Peter looks up. “You know you can tell me anything right?” He just shrugs, which makes Tony even more worried. “And when I say anything, I mean <em>anything</em>.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I-“ Tony looks at him reassuringly “It’s- I am-“ Peter sights even louder and angry at himself, he stands up abruptly. “This is stupid.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“No kid, it is not stupid. If it’s important to you then it is important to me.” As Peter turns around, Tony can see how red his eyes are. Is he crying? Is his kid crying? What’s going on? “Peter, you are scaring me. What’s wrong?” He sees him take a deep breath, probably trying to calm his nerves. He knows anxiety when he sees it.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’m-“ He puffs “I’m bisexual!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">No one says anything else. No words are needed. ‘<em>Poor kid</em>’ is the first thing that comes through Tony’s mind, followed by the need to hug the boy, so he does just that. The moment the kid’s head collides with his chest, he can feel him tremble. Sobs fill the room.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“It’s okay Pete, it’s okay. You are fine.” Tony continues to say those words as a mantra, trying to calm the kid, and honestly? Himself aswell. After a few minutes, Peter gets away from his embrace and dries his tears, sniffing.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’m sorry, I told you it was stupid. You can kick me out from the internship if you want, if there was ever one. I won’t bother yo-“</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What?” Tony can’t believe the words coming out from the kid’s mouth. Did he think he would react that way? Does he really think he is that cold-hearted? “Kid what are you talking about?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’m weird, I like my best friend, who happens to be a guy and you are- You! You are cool, you arein a relationship with Ms. Potts! You-“</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I what? I would kick you out? I would call you stupid, weird? I would never talk to you again? Well guess what? I, yeah <em>I</em>, that cool guy you are talking about, am bisexual too.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Silence, that’s all. Silence.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You what?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’m bisexual too kiddo.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“But- but- you-“</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Am with Pepper?” The kid nods, he just smiles. “Kid, do you know what bisexual is?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oh, right. Sorry” Not being able to stop himself, Tony hugs him again.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“It’s okay kid. I was scared too when I was your age. Do you know how many times I had to hide my boyfriends - well if you could call them that - from my parents? Thank God they never found out. They would’ve probably kicked me out. The only person who knew was Rhodey simply because I tried to get into his pants once when we were in college and I was drunk. <em>Really</em> drunk. But either way, I know how hard it is, because I lived it. And I lived it when it was even less accepted.” He runs his hand through Peter’s head, soothing him. “So don’t you dare say it’s stupid, because it’s not. The only one who would be stupid would be Ted if he rejected you.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“It’s Ned”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What?” The kid gets away from his embrace once again, this time staying closer than before, blushing.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“His name is Ned, and I don’t know if he even likes boys.” He says almost whispering.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Well, you won’t know until you ask him right?” Peter smiles from ear to ear.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Maybe he is right, maybe he should try. He knows his best friend, he probably already knows he is either gay or bisexual. So why not? He won’t ask him right away, but he will try, step by step. Thank God Mr. Stark came by, it’s like a weight got off his chest and he finally feels free.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">As he thinks it through, he looks at Mr. Stark, who is watching him with a soft smile in his face. ‘Thank you’ he thinks, and he just hugs him because yeah, it seems they are <em>there</em> now, and he couldn’t be happier.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So there you have it, a coming out story. Just know that you are all valid, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, asexual, everyone.</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>